Safety mechanism for elevator-shaft doors.



A. J. ROSENTRETER.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT DOORS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-4| 1915.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

anwwtozz amalgam, T-am iw A/J. ROSEN-TRETER. SAFETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT DOORS.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-4| 1915.

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' A. J ...R.OSEN'TRETER-. SAFETY-MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR sum moons.

- Patented Aug. 7; 1917.

- 3 SHEETSSHEET3.

' APPLICATION man SEPT. 41,1915.

ATTORNIEX 1 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. RQSENTRETER, OF BOONTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO EDGAR ZABRISKIE OFMAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, AND FRANK E. HUTCHINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR-SHAFT DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. '7, 1917.

Application filed September 4, 1915. Serial No. 48,952. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. Rosina- TRETER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boonton, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, have invent-' ed certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Mechanisms for Elevator-Shaft Doors, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains more especially to mechanism connected with elevator shaft sliding doors located at the several floors of a building and to means to cooperate therewith carried by the car.

The object of the invention is to prevent the accidents which arise from elevator cars being started .in motion from a floor of a building before the door at such floor has been wholly or substantially closed.

Many accidents have occurred by persons hurrying or attempting to hurry through a partly closed doorway of an elevator shaft to enter a car after the car has started or is about to start in movement, andall such accidents are wholly prevented by my invention which prevents the car from moving until the door has been wholly or substantially closed. Likewise my invention prevents the door from being opened to any material extent until the carhas arrived and stopped atvthe proper floor. I i

For the accommodation of high speed elevators I so arrange the mechanism of my invention that an elevator shaft door may conclude the latter part of its closing movement after the car has started in motion, means being provided however to prevent a person on the floor of the building from pushing the door open to any extent. sufli cient for him to pass through the doorway. I also provide that the door may be slightly opened before the car comes to. rest. The final closing and partial opening movements of the door just above referred to are of slight extent, say about three or four inches,

so that at no time could a person pass through the doorway'except when the car-is at rest and in position to receive such person safely.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which j r V c Figure 1 is a face View ofa pair of elevator shaft doors with mechanism for opergrammatically;

for cooperation with the sliding door operating the same, the operated position of the sl1d1ng member of the door being indicated by dotted lines and the view being takeir from the shaft side of the door; a portion of the elevator shaft framing is shown dia- Fig. 2 is a view, partly section and partly broken away, ofthe'door framing and an elevator car equipped with mechanism ating mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1, a portion of said door operating mechanism being illustrated in Fig. 2; V f V Fig. 3 is a "sectional view, partly broken away, taken on the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

. Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of an elevator car'equipped with a modified form of mechanism for cooperation with the sliding door operating mechanism; Fig. 5 is a view corresponding, with'the exception of certain omitted features,- with the mechanisms shown inv Fig. 2, Fig. 2

' illustrating the mechanisms connected with the door and car in their initial or inoperated' positions and Fig. 5 illustrating the same mechanisms in partly operated position;

Fig. 6 is a view substantially corresponding with Fig. 2 but omitting the sliding door operating mechanism for the purpose of more fully disclosing the electric features carried by the car and the parts associated with said electric mechanism for mechanical operation by apart carried-by the sliding door-operating mechanism;" I Fig. 7 is a top view, partly broken away and partly'in section, of thedoor operating mechanism and a portion of the elevator shaft frame;

Fig. 8 is a transverse section through 'a portion of the sliding door mechanism taken on the dotted line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig; 9 is a deta'chedview of the adjoining ends of the toggle levers connected with thesliding door, this view'beingpresen'ted to illustrate, the manner of' connecting said 100' ends in a pivotal manner and locking them against accidental separation;

Fig. 10 is a top view of the same, and

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of thesame, the ends being'separatedfrom each other and 105 shown in position ready to be assembled.

In the drawings 15 designates a sliding door of usual type, and 1-6 a stationary imi tation door or panel behindwhich, in the usual course of practice, the elevator oper- 11,0

ator stands with his right hand near the starting and stopping device of the elevator. The door 16 should correspond in appearance with the door 15 but is stationary under usual conditions, although sometimes hinged at its right hand edge, looking at Fig. 1, so that it may be opened to expose the full width of the elevator car to receive freight. WVhen the door 16 is an imitation door or intended not to be opened at all, I apply the mechanism of my invention or that portion thereof located on the doors at each floor of the building in the manner shown in Fig. 1, inwhich it will be seen that I apply door checking and closing means tot he left hand portion of the door 15 and that'this mechanism is connected by a pair of toggle levers 17, 18 with a bracket'19 secured to the jamb 20 at the right hand edge of the door 16. r

The door checking and closing mechanism is shown as comprising a liquid checking cylinder 21 which contains a usual closing spring and is pivotally connected at its lower end to a base plate 22 and at its upper end to the pivoted frame 23, to which the left hand end of the lever 17 is secured. A handle 24 is pivoted to the left hand end of the frame 23 and engages a small shoulder 25. When the door 15 is to be openedthe operator on the car pulls against the handle 2-1 to cause it through its engagement with the shoulder 25 to turn the frame 23 and lever 17 upwardly, the oint between the levers 17, 18 being thus broken to allow the levers to fold upwardly to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The door 15 is indicated in its open position by dotted lines in Fig. 1; In instances in which the elevator doors may be of considerable width, rendering it inconvenient for the operator on the car to easily reach the handle 24, he may operate the handle by a sliding rod 26 connected therewith and slidably mounted on the door 15. The door checking and closing mechanism just hereinbefore referred to is not separately claimed herein but has been made the subject of my application for Letters Patent Serial No. 853,878 filed July 29, 1914. I therefore present this door checking and closing mechanism in this application by way of illustration of any suitable door checking and closing mechanism which may be adapted to a sliding door. When the door 15 is moved to its open position the spring within the cylinder 21 becomes compressed and the liquid flows to the lower end of said cylinder, and when the door 15 is released to close, said spring will, by its expansive force, turn the frame 23 and lever 17 downwardly toward their initial position shown in ig. 1 and thereby efiect the closing of the door, the liquid at the lower end of the cylinder 21 then having a restricted passage to the upper end of said cylinder and serving to check the closing action of the door,

The construction at the adjoining ends of O the levers 17 18 is more fully illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 in which it will be seen that the end edge of the lever 17 is on the arc of a circle, as at 29, and that said lever adjacent to its end is formed at one side with a slot 30 having a rounded inner end and that the lever 17 at its opposite side and in near relation to the slot 30 is formed with a slot 31 which stands inwardly at an angle to the edge of the lever, the inclination being in a direction from the inner end of the lover. The formation of the slots 30, 31 creates what may be termed a hook member 32 on the inner end of the lever 17 The inner end of the lever 18 has secured on one face adjacent studs 33, 35, the stud 33 being of substantial diameter and having a flat head 34. The stud 35 is a plain straight stud and has no head thereon, and said stud 35 is closely adjacent to theedge of the head 34 on the stud 33. In assemblingthe adjacent inner ends of the levers 17, 18 the hook portion 32 of the lever 17 is inserted between the studs 33, 35 and below the head 34, the body of the stud 33 being received within the slot 3001? the lever 17. The levers 17, 18 may be thus brought together when in nearly a. vertical position or that shown in Fig. 11, and thereupon when the levers 17 18 are turned to carry their body portions in a direction from each other, the hook 32 turns upon the stud 33 and finally the stud 35 enters the slot 31 of the lever 17 this taking place when the two levers reach the same horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 9.

When the levers 17, 18 are in a horizontal position the stud 35, by engaging the Wall of the slot 31, prevents said levers from turning downwardly at their adjoining ends. The head 34 on the stud 33 at all times prevents any lateral displacement of the adjoining ends of the levers 17, 18, and the proximity of the stud 35 to the edge of the head 34- prevents any separation of the said ends of said levers except when the levers are nearly in edge to edge relation or in the position shown in Fig' 11. Whenever it is desired to separate the levers 17 18, this maybe accomplished by first folding the levers to about the position shown in Fig. 11 and then withdrawing the hook 32 from between the studs 33, 35. The hook 32 has its outer edge onthe arc of a circle, and hence said hook does not at all interfere .with' the folding and unfolding movements ends of the levers 17, 18 as particularly de-' sirable in view of the ease with which said levers may, by reason thereof, be connected together and separated from each other, all

cutting of rivets and the like being wholly avoided and the constructionbeing one o reliability and durability.

The bracket 19 is a durable metal bracket preferably secured by screws to the jamb 20, as shown, and said bracket has an inwardly turned bifurcated head 36 (Fig. 7) formed with a'transverse shoulder 37 Between the sides of the head 36 is pivotally secured, by

means of a bolt 38, the outer end of the lever 18, and upon said outer end of the lever 18 is pivotally secured by means of a bolt 39, the aforesaid frame 27, which is preferably formed integrally with the arm 28.

The frame 27 has along its upper edge anv inwardly turned flange 40 which laps over the upper edge of the lever 18 and at its outer end operates as a shoulder or stop to engage at the proper time the shoulder 37 on the bracket 19 and thereby arrest the sliding door '15 against being opened more than a few inches. When it is desiredthat the door 15 shall open fully, the frame 27.

must be tilted upwardly on its pivot 39 until the outer end edge of the flange 40 is enabled to escape the shoulder 37 and ride over the same. The tiltingfof the frame 27 to permit the flange 40 on the frame 27 to ride over the shoulder 37 takes place when a part carried by the car is on a horizontal plane with the arm 28 and the car'is at rest. The door 15 is prevented from being opened to any material extent by-the engagement of the frame 27 with the shoulder 37, andvsaid engagement of the frame and shoulder and the locking of the door 15 thereby in a substantially closed position may be overcomeonly when the elevator car is stationary at the proper floor andhas a part carried thereby in position to be engaged by the arm 28 during the slight movement which said arm is caused to have at the first portion of the folding upwardly of the levers 17, 18 and'in the opening of the door 15 to the slight extent permitted by the normalsepashoulder 37 and thus ceases to act as a means for resisting the opening of the door 15. 4 l

I will now describe the means carried by the car and which coeperate with the means carried by the doors, the one set of mechanism on the car being adapted to coiiperate with the mechanism on any one of the doors when the car is at rest and not to engage said mechanism carried by the doors except when the car is at rest in line with one of the doors. 7

The drawings illustrate a portion ofan elevator car and I number the same41. Referring more particularly to Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6,42 designates a suitable box or casing preferably of iron secured to and carried by the car near, in the illustration shown,the right hand edge of, the doorway, so that a part connected with this casing may coeperate with the lever arm 28 supported from the outer end of the frame 27. The box or cas ing 42 is open at one vertical edgei'and also open at a portion of its bottom, as shown in Fig. 2, and within the box or casing. 42 is pivotally secured the upper endof a lever 43 which projects downwardly below the 'box or casing and carries a roller'44, this roller being the specific feature which, at the' proper time, cooperates with the lever 28. The lever 43 is formed at one side with a laterally extending apertured ear45, which is pressed uponby a spring 46 encompassing ment of the same therefrom. Within the box or casing 42 are secured bindingposts said lever to that position after any move. r

50, 51 for'the electric conductors 52, 53, rev spectively, and these postsv 50, 51 normally engageandare electrically connected by a conductor 54 carried by thelever 43. -lVhen the lever 43 is in its initial position thecirc'uit is made through theconductor 52, binding post .50, conductor 54, binding post. 51and conductor 53, and when the lever 43 is moved in a direction to carry theconductor 54away from the ends of the binding posts 50, 51 or to the position shown in Fig. 5, the circuit will be broken'and power thereby be cut off from the car41, this taking place every time the car comes to a stop at a floor of the building and the door at such floor,

I will describe the operation of the mechanism in respect to cutting off the power from the car, that constituting one division of my invention and one element of safety, although I may also combine therewith and to be operated at the same time, mechanical means for 'preventing the operator on the car from starting his car until the elevator shaft door has been closed. We may assume, therefore, that the lever &3 having the roller 4 1 and equipped with a spring &6 is employed alone for cooperation with the lever 28 in breaking the circuit when the car comes to rest at a floor of the building and the door 15 is moved to its open position, and under these circumstances the relation of the roller 44L to the lever 28 is such that the car may move upwardly and downwardly at will without said roller engaging any of the levers 28, there thus being no obstruction to the passage of the car. I/Vhen however the car comes to rest at a floor of the building the roller 44: will be adjacent to though sepa rated from the lever 28 at that floor of the building, and thereupon when the toggle levers 17, 18 are folded upwardly in the opening of the door 15, the lever 28 by reason of the movement of the lever 18 will be carried against the roller 14; and two results will follow, one being that the resistance of the roller a l to the swiveling movement of the lever 28 will cause the end of the flange 10 on the frame 27 to tilt above the shoulder 37 on the head 36 of the bracket 19 and finally in the pressure of the lever 28 against the roller 44 turning the lever 13 in a direction to carry the conductor 54 from engagement with the binding posts 50, 51 thereby breaking the circuit, as shown in Fig. 5. The lever 28 is integral with the frame 27 and the flange 10 of said frame is over the upper edge of the toggle lever 18, and at the upper end of the lever 28 is formed a shoulder to engage the lower edge of the lever 18 and thus limit the upper tilting movement of the frame 27 when said lever 28 engages the roller 44. When the car comes to rest at a floor of the building, nothing will happen so far as the car or door is concerned unless the operator attempts to open the door, and when he does this the pressure, during the opening movement of the door, of the lever arm 28 against the roller results in the frame 27 being tilted upwardly to clear the shoulder 37 and in the leverl3 being turned to carry the con ductor 54L from the binding posts 50, 51 for the purpose of breaking the circuit or cutting off the motive power IEIOIIl the car.

The car will remain without'power and stationary so longas the door 15 is in its open position. When the door is closed the movement of the toggle lever 18 pressing downwardly against the lever arm 28 will move said arm'downwardly and outwardly to its initial position shown in Fig. 2, thereby releasing the engagement thereof with the roller 4:4: and permitting the spring 16 to move the lever 43 to its initial position shown in Fig. 2, thereby restoring the cirpreferably that the car may start on its movement before the door 15 has been ontirely closed, this being for the purpose of saving time. When the door has been closed to an extent leaving only three or four inches still open, the car may start since no one could squeeze through such a small space, and at that time no one from the hallway or floor could push the door to its open position because in attempting to do that the outer end edge of the frame 27 would engage the shoulder 37 and lock the door against opening movement. In the use of my invention the opening of the door 15 thus cuts off the power from the car and the car must remain stationary until the door has been substantially closed, since when the door is in its open position and until nearly closed, the mechanism operable therefrom holds the power cut off from the car or the circuit broken.

I also provide additional safety means for preventing the starting of the car. under any circumstance until the door 15 has been substantially closed, and these means may be used in conjunction with the circuit breaking means hereinbefore described and as auxiliary thereto since they assure the car remaining at rest even though for any acci-' dental'reason the movement of the lever 4L3 should not result in a breaking of the circuit.

The additional means provided by me are illustrated more fully in Figs. 2 and 3 in which it may be seen that I pivotally secure to the lower end of the lever 43 one end of a link 56 whose other end is pivoted to a connecting rod 57 whose lower end is secured on a shaft 58 mounted in bearings secured to the underside of the floor of the car and having connected with it a crank arm 59 whose outer or free end is connected with a vertical rod 60 which extends upwardly and has at its upper end an elongated eye 61 encompassing the shaft 62 of the starting and stopping lever 63. The rod 60 at the opposite sides of the eye 61 is equipped with pins 64 which when said rod is pushed upwardly will pass at the opposite sides of the lever 63 and mechanically prevent said lever from being turned in either direction, thus assuring the stationary position of the car. When' the lever 43 is moved by the engagement therewith of the lever 28, it draws the upper end of the rod 57 with it and in that way causes the lower end of said rod to turn the shaft 58, and crank 59 to elevate the rod 60 and place the pins 64 in position at the opposite sides of the lever 63; When the door has been closed and the lever 43 returns to its normal position, the reverse motion of the rod 57, shaft 58 and crank arm 59 will return the rod 60 downwardly and thereby cause the pins 64 to pass to an inoperative position, allowing the lever 63 to be moved for the purpose of starting the car. Upon the shaft 58 I provide a coiled spring 65 which serves to normally hold the rod 60 in its lower position. The mechanism of my invention carried by the car may thus provide means whereby the circuit may be made and broken and whereby the stopping and starting lever may also be held in stationary position, the whole serving to abundantly safeguard persons either entering or leaving the car against accident. The lever 28 has secured on its outer face a plate 66 which is adjustably held by screws 67, and

the purpose of the adjustable plate 66 is to permit of the relation of the lever 28 to the roller 44 being regulated in accordance with such conditions as may be met with in the construction of elevator cars and doors, or the framing of the elevator shaft.

As a modification of a portion of my invention I present Fig. 4 as illustrating a purely mechanical means cooperating with the door lever 28 for preventing'the car from being moved from a floor of the building until the door 15 thereat has been substan tially closed; Fig. 4 being a modification I number the car 68 and the starting and stopping lever 69.

I equip the car 68 with a rod 70 corresponding in every respect with the rod shown in Fig. 3 and provide on the exterior of the car a lever arm 71 having at its upper end a roller 72 to be engaged by the lever arm 28 connected with the toggle levers of the door. The lower end of the lever arm 71 is secured on a rock shaft 7 3 corresponding with the rock shaft 58 and having a crank arm 7 6 pivotally connected at its free end to the rod 70. Upon the rock shaft 73 is'a coiled spring 74 corresponding with the spring 65, Fig. 3, and normally holding the lever 71 against the stop 75 and the rod 70 Y in its lower inoperative position. When the car comes to rest at a floor of the building and the door 15 is opened, the lever arm 28 will, by engaging the roller 7 2, turn the lever arm 71 and rock shaft 7 3 and cause the rod to ascend and carry its pins 49 (corresponding with pins 64) at opposite sides of the lever 69 to preventthe operation of that lever, thus assuring the stationary position of the car until the door 15 has been substantially closed. In the construction shown in Fig. 4 the safety mechanism is wholly mechanical, while, with regard to the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the safety mechanisniis both electrical and mechanical; and this may also be said of Fig. 4, since until the starting and stopping lever can be moved, the motive power is ineffective.

The advantages of my invention will be appreciated without elaborate explanation.

motive power, a sliding door at a floor of the building having door opening mechanisms comprising toggle levers pivotally' connected together and at one end pivotally connected with the door and at the other end to an abutment, a pivotally mounted frame connected with said toggle levers adjacent to said abutment and having an actuating arm and adapted to have limited freedom .of movement on said levers, a shoulder on said abutment to normally be engaged by said frame to prevent said door from being opened beyond an impassible extent except when the car is at said floor, a part carried by the car and operable by said actuating arm on the opening of the door, the contact of said actuating'arm with'said part serving at first to turn said frame upwardly to clear said shoulder and allow the door to be opened, means on the car operable by said part carried thereby for rendering the car inoper able to start in movement when said door is open, and means for automatically rendering the car operable when said door is closed and said actuating arm thereby released from its engagement with said part carried by the car. V V

2. In elevator shaft door and car mechanisms, in combination, a car in the shaft said floor, a part carried by the car normally free of said frame and operable thereby on the opening of the door, the engagement of said frame with said part serving to free the door opening mechanism to allow the door to be fully opened, means on the Signed at New York city, in the county of car operable by said part carried thereby for New York and State of New York, this 25th 0 rendering the ear inoperable to start in day of August A. D. 1915. movement when said door is open, and means 5 for automatically rendering the car operable ALBERT ROSENTRETER' when said door is closed and said frame Witnesses: thereby released from its engagement with ARTHUR MARION, said part carried by the car. CHAS. C. GILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington D. C. 

